After the VTech hack, some tips on keeping your kids safeNEW YORK — Parents around the world have been understandably shaken by the hacking of a VTech database containing information on the more than 6 million children who use the company’s toys. But what’s a parent to do? Internet-connected toys such as VTech’s tablets continue to grow in popularity and are expected on many holiday gift lifts this season. Here are some answers to common questions about VTech’s breach and how to protect your kids’ i...

Crunch time again for health law; Tuesday sign-up deadline WASHINGTON (AP) — Rising premiums and shaken faith among insurers have cast a cloud over sign-up season for President Barack Obama's health care law, and now it's crunch time again. Tuesday is the deadline for millions of uninsured procrastinators to sign up in time for coverage to begin on Jan. 1. As the health insurance expansion enters its third year, their decisions are critical to its economic viability. A surge of younger, healthier cust...

Baby boomers still the spine of independent book sellingNEW YORK — In 1974, Gayle Shanks was a 23-year-old idealist raised on the activism of the previous decade and anxious to make a difference herself. So she opened a bookstore. “Books had changed my life and I assumed they could change other people’s lives as well,” says Shanks, whose Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, Arizona, is now among the country’s leading independent sellers. “I really imagined this as a place where people would come and ...

Wet winter expected in California thanks to powerful El NinoNEW YORK — This year’s El Nino is staying unusually strong, and forecasters say it’s still expected to bring a wet winter to drought-stricken California. In an update Thursday, Mike Halpert of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told reporters the odds favor some significant winter storms in California. El Nino is a warming in the Pacific Ocean that alters weather worldwide Halper also said it’s not clear what a strong El Nino...

U.S. launches trial of facial, eye scans on Mexican borderSAN DIEGO — The federal government on Thursday began collecting facial and eye scans of foreigners entering the U.S. at a busy border crossing with Mexico, a first step in one of its most ambitious efforts to track people who stay in the country illegally after their visas expire. Up to half of the people in the U.S. illegally are believed to have overstayed their visas, but the absence of a checkout system has left authorities with no way to ...

Train leaves station without operatorBOSTON — A six-car train carrying about 50 passengers left a suburban Boston transit station without a driver Thursday and went through four stations without stopping, and investigators were focusing on “operator error” as the reason why. The trip began shortly after 6 a.m. at the Braintree station and ended about nine minutes later when power was cut to the rails, transportation officials said. No passengers were hurt. Stephanie Pollack, the ...

With Golden Globe nod, Charlie Puth is having best week everNEW YORK — Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is having his best week ever. The 24-year-old earned three Grammy nominations Monday for his tribute song to Paul Walker, the No. 1 hit “See You Again.” And now it’s nominated for best original song at the Golden Globe Awards, announced Thursday. Oh, and he just heard his new single, “One Call Away,” on the radio for the first time. “This is my song. This is literally the best moment of my life right n...

Suit challenges religious objections lawNOBLESVILLE, Ind. — Conservative groups started a court challenge Thursday to limits that were placed on Indiana’s religious objections law in the days after last spring’s national uproar over whether it could be used to discriminate against gays and lesbians. The lawsuit filed in a Hamilton County court by the Indiana Family Institute and others argues that the restrictions violate the state constitution by taking away legal protections based...

Facebook: U.S. presidential race is top topic of the yearSAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. won’t elect a president until next year but the debate over the crowded field of candidates jostling for the Oval Office emerged as the hottest topic on Facebook this year. The race for the Democratic and Republican party nominations eclipsed an outpouring of emotions over deadly attacks, strife, social issues and disasters. The rankings released Wednesday open a window into the cultural mindset by analyzing how freque...

Deputy: Gator killed man in community hit by burglaries PALM BAY, Fla. — Authorities say a man who may have hidden as officers investigated reports of two suspicious men in a Florida community targeted by recent burglaries was killed by an 11-foot alligator. Brevard County Sheriff's Maj. Tod Goodyear says 22-year-old Matthew Riggins told his girlfriend he would be in Barefoot Bay to commit burglaries with another suspect. Authorities received calls Nov. 13 about two suspicious men in black walking ...

Dangerous wind again stalls launch of space station suppliesCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Once again, high wind is keeping space station supplies stuck on Earth. An unmanned rocket loaded with 7,400 pounds of cargo for the International Space Station — the first U.S. shipment in months — was grounded by dangerous gusts Saturday. It was the third weather delay in a row. Launch director Bill Cullen called off the attempt three hours in advance. Technical troubles had bumped the late afternoon launch time to the...

Woman in California rampage had become more devoutSAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — A change came over Tashfeen Malik two or three years ago. She started dressing more conservatively, wearing a scarf that covered nearly all her face, and became more devout in her Muslim faith, according to some who knew her in Pakistan. But her path from there to the bloody events of this past week — when she and her husband slaughtered 14 people in a commando-style shooting rampage — remains a mystery, with FBI offic...

Local law enforcement trains for active shooterAuthorities were investigating leads Friday as they searched for a gunman accused of wounding a person inside a suburban Chicago Wal-Mart. On Saturday, a police officer and another person were hurt in a shooting at a motorcycle shop about 85 miles northwest of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and prompted an evacuation. It was the 357th incident that involved either an active shooter or mass shooting this year in United States. Today is the 340th day of ...

Three sisters among Rockettes this yearNEW YORK — The world-famous Rockettes are supposed to look alike, but fans this Christmas might do a double take — and then a triple-take. Three long-legged, athletic sisters — including two identical twins — are in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular lineup. Landing a job among this high-kicking chorus line is very special. Can three come from the same family? Meet Kristin, Lisa and Alison Jantzie, celebrating their fourth year as Rockettes ...

Senators place hold on Energy nomineeLITTLE ROCK — Arkansas’ two Republican senators say they will place a hold on a confirmation vote for a U.S. Department of Energy nominee because of their concerns over a proposed wind-energy transmission line that would cross the state. U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton said Wednesday they will place a hold on the confirmation vote for Victoria Wassmer, who is President Barack Obama’s nominee for the department’s undersecretary for manag...

For some, the older the smartphone, the betterNEW YORK — Between splashy launches, lavish new-phone offers (get a free HDTV on activation!) and frequent software updates that slow down your old handset, it sometimes feels like the entire technology industry is pushing you to buy the latest smartphone. Yet some holdouts resist. Take Zak Sommerfield, 35, a software analyst in New York, who has hung onto his LG Delight flip phone for five years, even though his friends and co-workers make fu...

David Letterman donating talk show memorabilia to Ball StateMUNCIE, Ind. — Comedian and Ball State University graduate David Letterman is donating memorabilia from his career in television to his alma mater. Ball State President Paul Ferguson made the announcement Monday night before Letterman spoke to a sold-out crowd at Emens Auditorium with filmmakers Spike Jonze and Bennett Miller. Ferguson said Letterman plans to donate Emmy Awards, a talk-show set, props and other items to create "The David Lette...

IRS: Warrant needed to use tracking technologyWASHINGTON — Internal Revenue Service criminal investigators will not continue to use cellphone-tracking technology without first seeking a warrant, the IRS commissioner told Congress in a letter made public Tuesday. Commissioner John Koskinen said his agency is drafting a policy to abide by the Justice Department’s guidance on using the technology, which simulates cellphone towers to trick nearby phones into revealing their locations. The gui...

Facebook CEO to give away most of moneySAN FRANCISCO — Talk about birth announcements: Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife say they’ll devote nearly all their wealth — roughly $45 billion — to solving the world’s problems in celebration of their new baby daughter, Max. Zuckerberg’s wife, Priscilla Chan, gave birth to a 7-pound, 8-ounce daughter last week. But the couple didn’t put out the news until Tuesday, when Zuckerberg posted it on Facebook, of course. In the same post, ...

GOP rhetoric on Muslims seen as having little costSome leading Republican presidential candidates seem to view Muslims as fair game for increasingly harsh words they might use with more caution against any other group for fear of the political cost. So far, that strategy is winning support from conservatives influential in picking the nominee. Many Republicans are heartened by strong rhetoric addressing what they view as a threat to national security by Islam itself, analysts say. Because Mus...